Sapa is a town in Lao Cai Province in Northwest Vietnam close to the Chinese border. It is located about 350km Northwest of Hanoi. Here is where one will find the Hoang Lien Son range of mountains, which includes Fan Si Pan—the country's highest peak.This quiet Vietnamese town is home to a population which consists mostly of minority groups. There are five main ethnic groups in Sapa: the Hmong, Dao, Tay, Giay and Xa Pho. It is said that Sapa was first occupied by the first four groups, since the Vietnamese from the lowlands (better known as the Kinh) did not colonise the highest valleys.

Location
Sa Pa District is located in Lao Cai Province, north-west Vietnam, and 350 km north-west of Hanoi, close to the border with China. Sapa is famous both for its fine, rugged scenery and for its rich cultural diversity. French used to consider Sapa as Summer Capital of Northern Vietnam in the early decades of the 20th century. Its naturally gifted beauty keeps attracting more and more people to spend their vacation there since then. Particularly, the place is the foremost choice for honeymoon couples!Sapa Attractions
The scenery of the Sapa region in large part reflects the relationship between the ethnic minority people and nature. This is seen especially in the paddy fields carpeting the rolling lower slopes of the Hoang Lien Mountains. The impressive physical landscape, which underlies this, has resulted from the work of the elements over thousands of years, wearing away the underlying rock.
Most tourists agree that it would be regretful if the leisure and relaxation time in cool and fresh weather is not accompanied by visiting trips to Sapa’s prideful natural beauty spots, such as Ham Rong Mountain, Silver Waterfall, Rattan Bridge, Bamboo Forest and Ta Phin Cave. The town is also the starting point for many mountain climbers and scientists who would like to discover the Fansipan Mount, the highest mountain in Vietnam with 3,143 m height. Can you imagine that Hoang Lien Mountain Range is called “the Alps of the North Sea area” since Fansipan Mount also marks its greatest height among others in the Indochina Peninsula as well. The pyramid-shaped mountain is covered with clouds all the year round. On top of the mountain is filled with frequent below zero temperature, especially at high altitudes.
On approaching the town, the very first thing tourists may find is the detached wooden mansions and villas perched on top or side of the hills, behind thick pine forests, hided by fog in the morning. Old and new villas with red roofs now appear and then disappear in the green rows of pomu trees, bringing in the beauty of European towns.

Specialties
Foreign tourists are actually fond of scarce and precious specialties of Sapa, such as forest’s product, handicrafts, delicacies (smoked meat, “thang co”, “cai meo”, san lung wine, corn wine, etc.), typical of ethnic minority people.
Most travellers do like to bring some of the local fresh vegetables back home for presents. Thanks to the fresh and cool air, Sapa is the ideal land for fresh temperate vegetables such as cabbage, chayote, precious medical herbs, fruit trees (plum, pear), and so on.Cultural diversity
Sapa is famous for its special cultural diversity in a combination of ethnic minority groups’ culture. Visitors to Sapa will have opportunities to discover the unique customs of the local residents. Local markets are the town’s typically cultural element, which are always crowded and joyful, attracting hundreds of visitors. This is the common place for minority groups to gather and exchange goods. Market sessions are also a chance for local people to promenade. No foreign visitor could help joining such a market session, a typical cultural element of Sapa. What is more, tourists coming to Sapa at weekends have the great chance to learn about local ethnic people's courtship and martial life, through the Sapa love market and wife kidnapping ceremony of the H’Mong group. The ceremony will begin on April 29th. This is part of a five-day festival, titled Festival on the Cloud, to mark the beginning of the Sapa 2006 tourism year, in the northern mountain township of Sapa, in Lao Cai Province.How to get there?
Visitors can choose to go to Sapa by train or car, but train is more advisable because of the long and bumpy road. Most tourists arrive in Lao Cai, the province to which Sapa belongs, by train and it is definitely an impressive ride. The train leaves Hanoi train station in the evening and arrives in Lao Cai train station in early morning. From Lao Cai train station to Sapa is another hour bus ride, which gives your eyes a massage with the endless blue sky and colourful terraced paddy field. The road is curved around the mountain and you will just go from one surprise to another. The further you go, the closer you are to the sky and to nature.

Category Tours

Margaret P

“16 day tour of Vietnam”

This trip was awesome. Organisation was excellent and the tour guides were very knowledgeable and attentive. Vehicle was a transit van which was pretty cool considering there was only 4 of us on the tour. I would recommend this to anyone.
10 out of 10 for me. Thank you to tour guides Khoa, in Hanoi, Mr Ten in the central & to Khoa In the south for sharing your country with us.

Visited May 2016

Judith L

“Our third trip to Vietnam in three years.”

We have just returned from 10 days in Vietnam and it was just as amazing as it has been in previous years. Once again Mr Le from Asia Pacific Travel organized all details to perfection. This year we went to Sa Pa, Halong Bay and made return visits to Hanoi and Hoi An. We stayed at the Vinh Hung resort in Hoi An and were welcomed back with open arms. Our travels in Vietnam with Asia Pacific have been the most enjoyable, stress free and economical touring we have ever done in many years of travelling all over the world.

Visited June 2016

GerardCarim

“Amazing experience way beyond we paid for!”

We paid for 2 star cruise, got upgraded to 4 star, for free! And the overall experience was 12 out of 10. The agent, Ms. Hai, was very friendly and patient when we contacted her through her personal number. The tour guide was cool as well, though his English is not perfect yet still understandable. The crew on board were awesome! The food is overflowing, too much of too many great food! We definitely recommend this agency. I have zero complaints.

Visited May 2016

Jia Wen L

“Hanoi - Sapa - HaLong Bay 2016”

A compliment to Ms Hai (Sale Exe) who arranged the itinerary for me and my family! She do follow up service and keep on track with my tour schedule. Also thank to Mr Quan (My private tour guide in Sapa). He explained the story and history of Sapa to me. So that I am further understand about Sapa!! Overall for this trip is good! Just the trip to HaLong Bay the time arrangement could be more punctual instead of need to wait for so long. (Even transfer back from HaLong Bay to Hanoi) also not on time at all
Punctuality is important.
Tour guide for cruise dint communicate much with us.
But in conclude I am still satisfied with your services.
Vietnam I will come back again next year!! It's an amazing country!

Visited May 2016

quanuari7

“Ha Long Bay Trip 2 Days 1 Night”

Day Tours from start to finish is perfect, more pick up option : at hotel, airport, office apt, or some place at old quarter, more advice which CS give to me for to know hanoi situation because I'm arrived at hanor in the midnight, and the tour on board was amazing , so nice and memorialbe, we can make new friends on board from other country, kayaking, swimming, cooking class vietnam food, and cuisine on the board its perfect, we can request the menu if we on diet or something we can't eat such as Can't eat Pork. thanks to Miss HAI who arranged the tour, to Mr. Lucky and Mr. Tomy for guiding me on bus and on board , it was my pleasure and someday I will be back again, InsyaAllah... Cheers and see You again ^_^ mela quanuari ^^

Visited May 2016

shkyii

“Danang Trip”

We are very enjoy danang trip. Tour guide took good care and helpful of us. The bus also clean and aircon good condition. We stay near the beach Avatar hotel also clean and comfortable. I strongly prefer this hotel and Asia Pacific Travel provide good service and Daily Tours

From Singapore
Yii

Visited May 2016

Holger Michael I

“Parfume Pagoda/Heaven Kitchen and Ha Long Bay”

Excellent organising and well experienced tour guides for both tours. Great trip to Ha Long Bay with fantastic background informations from our guide Le Huong. Thx for your patience and helping in all ways. It was my pleasure and I will be back again. Cheers and see you soon.

L9320VTmichaelh

, Australia

“Three fabulous days in Saigon”

Asia Pacific travel from start to finish we're perfect. Airport pickup to hotel to tours and advice on best restaurants was just fantastic. We had three full days to stay in Saigon and planned for two days to tour one to rest but our Guide Mr Hieu "Jacky" suggested one more tour to Nui Dat and Long Tan Battlefields, my sincere gratitude to him as it was the highlight of our visit, our driver Mr Lys Lys could not be faulted, absolutely Fantastic.

Visited April 2016

Leo24789

, Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar

“One of the best tour operator ”

First time in Ho Chi Minh City and having done alot of research on what different tour operators were able to offer, the reviews with Asia Pacific Travel Tours won us over. We booked the 6Days 5Night tour well in advance requesting late arrival start and a preferred place to stay . Mr. Le Thuc (Lee) Sales Executive and our tour guide ( Mr. Jacky) was extremely accomodating of our needs, The tour exceeded our expectations, not only was he a great tour guide Mr. Hieu (Jacky) he was extremely knowledgable and we left Saigon with so much more knowledge and appreciation for the history, culture and lifestlye of the Vietnamese The highlight of our trip and the tour was the Mekong Delta tour, simply breathtaking! An unforgettable experience and having never returned to any country we've travelled a second time, we intend to return next year to book another tour with Asia Pacific Tours.

Visited April 2016

SrikiranRaghavan

We had a great visit to Hoi An on the 11th and 12th of August. We had the privilege of being shown around by Mr. Moi (Ten) Tran. from Asia Pacific Travels. By far, he was the best guide we had during the entire week long trip to Vietnam. He took the time to explain things in much detail, was sensitive to the needs of my in-laws and was patient with us as we struggled with the very hot and humid weather. He always had a smile on his face and made us feel comfortable. We learned a lot and got to see very diverse parts of Hoi An, thanks to his advice.

Chi L

Our 21 days trip in June 2016 was the second time we booked through Asia Pacific. Even though we are seasoned travelers, we felt it's worth leaving the planning to Ms. Chi again for she had perfected the previous trip. Our very fun and dedicated guide, Mr. Hieu, made sure our trip was hitch-free, taking care of every details planned in the itinerary from hotel check-in to airport transfers. I especially appreciated his shared knowledge of Vietnamese history, local customs and culture. Moreover, he helped us explore places only known to the locals and even taught us how to bargain when we shopped. It was awesome!
Visited 6 2016

chrissyt344

Thank you so much Ms Susan for organising and coordinating our 18 day trip. Also for accomodating our many requests. Our self tailored adventure wouldn't have been possible without your expert local knowledge and staff. We were so
impressed with how everything was coordinated and all in the most timely
manner...from our emails, to drivers, guides, hotels etc. We will most
certainly pass on your contact details to friends and family planning a
visit to Vietnam in the future.

mhtiger79

Our itinerary was well planned by Ms Chi with just the right amount of activities to show us all the must sees in our trip from North of Vietnam – Central of Vietnam and South of Vietnam. The lunches that were included in the package were well thought out with different local Vietnamese dishes for us to experience. They were all very delicious too.
Our guides, Mr Hào in Hà NÙi - H¡ Long – Sa Pa. Mr ThiÁu in Hu¿ - HÙi An – à N³ng. Mr Hi¿u in Saigon was also very friendly, knowledgeable with English very influential to able to tell us and special my nieces and nephew who completely didn’t know anything about our country with any single of histories in every step of place we were and always have excellent recommendations for our dinner. Thank you for all you’re organized, detail to perfection how beautiful country and we would surely recommend Asia Pacific Travel day tours to our friends.
With Asia Pacific and special with Ms Chi for planner, Mr Hào, Mr ThiÁu, Mr Hi¿u our guide and all our drivers we went the trip as a family on vacation not like a tour guy with customer we sharing knowledges, fun, summer heat and delicious of local dishes. This vacation trip with Asia Pacific will be in our memory for ever.
Our travels in Vietnam with Asia Pacific have been the most enjoyable, stress free and economical touring we have ever done in many years of travelling all over the world.

yc_tham2010

Our itinerary was well planned by Ms Susan with just the right amount of activities to show us all the must sees in our Danang-Hue-My Son-Hoi An trip. The lunches that were included in the package were well thought out with different local Vietnamese dishes for us to experience. They were all very delicious too. Our guide, Mr Ten was also very knowledgeable and always have excellent recommendations for our dinner. Thank you for sharing your beautiful country with us and we would surely recommend Asia Pacific Travel day tours to our friends.